tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58618075066341830072024-02-07T10:06:15.290-08:00RandomWalkIt's about our future. It's about our past. Share your thoughts.c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-33141997854280039522013-06-07T16:26:00.004-07:002013-06-07T17:01:22.234-07:00Destination Unknown<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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I am fond of finding, or creating, Thought Experiments as a way to focus attention on a particular problem. I created this one during a recent family discussion on how to balance life's competing values. Try your hand at how you would "resolve" it:
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... You wake up and find yourself in some kind of vehicle, a bit like a black London taxicab. You try, but cannot find a way to converse with the driver, who is
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ldUEK1yHZW6G_YFEGxEelSidX6ok-ddHJ6rOYPdQXyLtc_agivka6ubd90wCJuS8qfnXl8KNTcLr5fXJTCnbjif3yc6j-e1RNFcK6spx2zygLoupTPYzA5FCoQcm_Xt_WIAk5B-XlPuF/s1600/blogger-image--1958184879.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" align="right" hspace="12" vspace="5" height="175" width="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ldUEK1yHZW6G_YFEGxEelSidX6ok-ddHJ6rOYPdQXyLtc_agivka6ubd90wCJuS8qfnXl8KNTcLr5fXJTCnbjif3yc6j-e1RNFcK6spx2zygLoupTPYzA5FCoQcm_Xt_WIAk5B-XlPuF/s320/blogger-image--1958184879.jpg" /></a>
positioned in front of some kind of translucent, but foggy screen. You notice in front of you a computer touch-screen, labeled clearly: "Next Stop". Below the heading you see the following list of buttons:
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_ Visit Job Center<br />
_ Visit Family<br />
_ Visit Entertainment Hall<br />
_ Visit Museum on Brain Functioning<br />
_ End Trip
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzsQWgEsg22z_KgZ5LXjinFd1J_HxAv1I5VbDUe4QcnuH60BK-1BCEHclJm2pd-7oawjWi63dgCZhTidiKIr1YFtYukBWduBwXaIrhNSPDxpZdOgJ9dd0UPPhYAVSihM6gjbAS8bMnTVC/s1600/blogger-image-2002100552.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" align="left" hspace="12" vspace="10" height="210" width="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzsQWgEsg22z_KgZ5LXjinFd1J_HxAv1I5VbDUe4QcnuH60BK-1BCEHclJm2pd-7oawjWi63dgCZhTidiKIr1YFtYukBWduBwXaIrhNSPDxpZdOgJ9dd0UPPhYAVSihM6gjbAS8bMnTVC/s320/blogger-image-2002100552.jpg" /></a>
You have no idea if you are permitted to select more than one destination. You also do not know what "End Trip" means.
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Question: What is your thought process before touching the screen?
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[Note: I could simply have asked which destination do you touch first ... but I felt the more detailed "how do you analyze your thought process" question was more appropriate for this blog].
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Cheerio.
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***<br />
<i>Image Credits</i>
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<br />- London Black Cab, photo by DAVID ILIFF (CC-BY-SA 3.0, 2007), from Wikipedia at http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage, image cropped for height by c emerson
<br />- The Passing of the Growler, published in Punch Magazine (Public Domain, 1907), Wikipedia, <i>ibid</i>
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<br />c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-40341422816845678572013-04-16T00:09:00.000-07:002013-04-16T20:07:52.306-07:00Gettin' Jiggy Wit It<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So what could you say, if someone else were to say, a string of words along the trail somewhere, where such words include a variety of thoughts, kind of like the variety of thoughts, which are magically included, among those very words, which were penned, and then voiced so sweetly by the Beatles, so (relatively) long ago:
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<blockquote>
When I get older, losing my hair,
<br />many years from now
<br />Will you still be sending me a valentine,
<br />birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
<br />If I'd been out 'til quarter to three,
<br />would you lock the door?
<br />Will you still need me, will you still feed me
<br />when I'm sixty-four?
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</blockquote>
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So what could you say, what would you say, to that? Maybe you could say, maybe you would say, let's just get 'jiggy wit it' ... If so, then all right then.
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***
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<i>Credits:</i>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTcEPL9tdi24QokW-nV1HTiZlwAEtuhO-6G81tZmShR7D_oWyZbUY_Y7mMK3MP544S4XE6lnrUwRhbO9Tv-SYItzIHKCTWcszF2xOeOPphesD_jutWfX4OD2sopiGuR3lRBelp6McJ2RY/s1600/blogger-image-109393424.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" height="140" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTcEPL9tdi24QokW-nV1HTiZlwAEtuhO-6G81tZmShR7D_oWyZbUY_Y7mMK3MP544S4XE6lnrUwRhbO9Tv-SYItzIHKCTWcszF2xOeOPphesD_jutWfX4OD2sopiGuR3lRBelp6McJ2RY/s320/blogger-image-109393424.jpg" /></a>
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- <i>When I'm Sixty-Four</i>, by the Beatles (<i>Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</i> -1967)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQG04y541ZxyT-LRJm0YQK9lfAlR8VzaHym_Afnasf4hBC80_dkgYsz5br0TJEcT13J87LcBmhIr8K4Pnd-Y_jjNgexYnMHqUejxNS6U2ffbu-8nR12FluviTpKPlk9mJbtlOmwLcgiQFc/s1600/blogger-image-1489150879.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" height="140" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQG04y541ZxyT-LRJm0YQK9lfAlR8VzaHym_Afnasf4hBC80_dkgYsz5br0TJEcT13J87LcBmhIr8K4Pnd-Y_jjNgexYnMHqUejxNS6U2ffbu-8nR12FluviTpKPlk9mJbtlOmwLcgiQFc/s320/blogger-image-1489150879.jpg" /></a>
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<br />- "Bring it, Whoo, Uhh, uhh, uhh, uhh, (Hoo cah cah), Hah hah, hah hah, Bicka bicka bow bow bow ... Gotta get jiggy wit it"
<br /><br />- <i>Gettin' Jiggy Wit It</i>, by Will Smith (1998)
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- Images of sheet music, from <a href="http://www.sheetmusicplus.com"><i>Sheet Music Plus</i></a> at http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/
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- Earlier post, <a href="http://www.randomwalk12.blogspot.com/2012/10/its-all-in-music.html"><i>It's All in the Music</i></a>
<br /><br />- This post was updated (last paragraph), 7:30 pm, same day
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<br />c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-24708654412777901722013-03-30T16:51:00.001-07:002013-04-07T14:00:16.185-07:00Death Valley ... a place to stop, look and listen<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span>
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Death Valley Nat'l Park: a place to stop, look and listen.
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Especially nice on a Harley at 70 mph.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeIJmReU0jk_jKLKkT3sqI7TLGRk7QmLlir_ubJ8ty3pk21VZn_YQPuj5l5REAuFaXVM7rsUaR-1Tu1dLyc2iJwiigDAiLngwnkUerHDPuEksWI-ZvXQwynwcJS08sevbmzXjbKqc7F9DO/s1600/blogger-image--1666006228.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="175" width="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeIJmReU0jk_jKLKkT3sqI7TLGRk7QmLlir_ubJ8ty3pk21VZn_YQPuj5l5REAuFaXVM7rsUaR-1Tu1dLyc2iJwiigDAiLngwnkUerHDPuEksWI-ZvXQwynwcJS08sevbmzXjbKqc7F9DO/s1600/blogger-image--1666006228.jpg" /></a>
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Or on foot ... as the sun is falling
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjIxlm-YeQjFbayTVmLfO7Q_xbvo6gzzibJPmqjQndoV1MsG2ZyFDJgwtPQ9Ro5_Gp_L2tTS3mkict2bJMciPtOqW1_fEhM3RDsrE9nKH1-Ot87sRVtpwmKD6VWW7QnKEq1GtKqT_5cPkX/s1600/pic2shadow.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjIxlm-YeQjFbayTVmLfO7Q_xbvo6gzzibJPmqjQndoV1MsG2ZyFDJgwtPQ9Ro5_Gp_L2tTS3mkict2bJMciPtOqW1_fEhM3RDsrE9nKH1-Ot87sRVtpwmKD6VWW7QnKEq1GtKqT_5cPkX/s320/pic2shadow.jpg" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulikpHTQtMctX_la7ZGg6NHyxNedeWQnvA1lDTWp84iI9lczVFlDtjyEvdzSTLkQAvxscO0ZugHXNXKyn1Dc-RmWUatbAEHIfa56s6RsN-NO2C9aLy36-pWNhsLERzvX-Ps9y-ZYXwXA4/s1600/pic3yelsunset.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulikpHTQtMctX_la7ZGg6NHyxNedeWQnvA1lDTWp84iI9lczVFlDtjyEvdzSTLkQAvxscO0ZugHXNXKyn1Dc-RmWUatbAEHIfa56s6RsN-NO2C9aLy36-pWNhsLERzvX-Ps9y-ZYXwXA4/s320/pic3yelsunset.jpg" /></a>
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Now to find a quiet place to read.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYCgZSlnl5pnQqaCHFa0Gi7UXoN6QPaCkludcTrgzUBBzpClkMuhUxPdXI-hpAwPHNKMR2W780JKhLquZpleuP5kIFlJNbRJmkQKbHs3wgkY6OjZlrfliJ7kre4lZib4tZca4qvs2lwhQ/s1600/pic4telescdrk.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYCgZSlnl5pnQqaCHFa0Gi7UXoN6QPaCkludcTrgzUBBzpClkMuhUxPdXI-hpAwPHNKMR2W780JKhLquZpleuP5kIFlJNbRJmkQKbHs3wgkY6OjZlrfliJ7kre4lZib4tZca4qvs2lwhQ/s320/pic4telescdrk.jpg" /></a>
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Some place more elevated, say 4500 feet, but not at Telescope's rocking 11,331 feet. Snow in Death Valley in late March? Absolutely. 91 degrees on the floor; 40 degrees at 5 am where I'm camping.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYekSoob3_mNUT3woVW8Y3ZIEEB41sN68dnkuFPzeNdRD91Q72RVtjRRnwocmi4WpyTc1uWct4rfTVK6YLCecHgogZoT7VzPdIxgB3C4fRmNxdOE3blHqTC3-2dbuofU6XA690oogLh1c/s1600/pic5prickly.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYekSoob3_mNUT3woVW8Y3ZIEEB41sN68dnkuFPzeNdRD91Q72RVtjRRnwocmi4WpyTc1uWct4rfTVK6YLCecHgogZoT7VzPdIxgB3C4fRmNxdOE3blHqTC3-2dbuofU6XA690oogLh1c/s320/pic5prickly.jpg" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3F7llbaKgxD3tRyRKzSn6YEzL44lHwEFJKHhnAFGE5fRpc08SF7llBAB-2DaPHzjLxs0tzvlFewakI2BEBmPz0m4nNMncAHiKNLFZfEbyw0HdrTu3D3Olm2FzAMSdYIpBPeNklDgqzlgC/s1600/pic6whitebush.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3F7llbaKgxD3tRyRKzSn6YEzL44lHwEFJKHhnAFGE5fRpc08SF7llBAB-2DaPHzjLxs0tzvlFewakI2BEBmPz0m4nNMncAHiKNLFZfEbyw0HdrTu3D3Olm2FzAMSdYIpBPeNklDgqzlgC/s320/pic6whitebush.jpg" /></a>
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The flora seem not to mind. Barrel cacti and saltbrush alike.
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Heading home for the night.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2f7gcpktsFPGErLtPG3kLCvs8TO-sxv5NOlarVMuRBHY70viF_Z2489WPpihCFLmPtUGi0IMUMsB27GHkqdFWOrsJaIkWx8rZmV6vKKFeSA0Udx-v_Va8CteFVcmauibWAnLHz5BVCDTm/s1600/pic7.trail.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2f7gcpktsFPGErLtPG3kLCvs8TO-sxv5NOlarVMuRBHY70viF_Z2489WPpihCFLmPtUGi0IMUMsB27GHkqdFWOrsJaIkWx8rZmV6vKKFeSA0Udx-v_Va8CteFVcmauibWAnLHz5BVCDTm/s320/pic7.trail.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlLe1bM92ImkRc7nHAIzL5KkgmFR7Odd_voUWcjIdhy8gN4diYxKq4Bs2_IWS3YOqwK8Rb_XuwgIoSyyz3DfD6_olq-1DTaSDHd0nxQ_9W3A1avbLnrUISTBmtEVZaq51Ci-mutXoBMAl/s1600/pic8blackmoon.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlLe1bM92ImkRc7nHAIzL5KkgmFR7Odd_voUWcjIdhy8gN4diYxKq4Bs2_IWS3YOqwK8Rb_XuwgIoSyyz3DfD6_olq-1DTaSDHd0nxQ_9W3A1avbLnrUISTBmtEVZaq51Ci-mutXoBMAl/s320/pic8blackmoon.jpg" /></a>
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I love shadows and windscreens.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1haRVO2qYbho7MLuO1BUibJD-srldCzIngxaAenpnJv4hKs9x-iFQbSfetHnUSeN-vhuOICFzSRWsKfJtoMINvHYOyU_bntZikA2Fi5KM-12SCeT8rJopbbeOjqHhdc7VjjpWSo5IjET/s1600/pic9pointing.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1haRVO2qYbho7MLuO1BUibJD-srldCzIngxaAenpnJv4hKs9x-iFQbSfetHnUSeN-vhuOICFzSRWsKfJtoMINvHYOyU_bntZikA2Fi5KM-12SCeT8rJopbbeOjqHhdc7VjjpWSo5IjET/s320/pic9pointing.jpg" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_eTUOlTWkD_YubXhKQS06TNtDYFiytGx79pvl0kPVTmLQBHGxeDw9brkkG_C_KiGKQgP7ayf6BPY_ZFlGfYjd7_NOzMDyr92lIAVCSKis7ayHj07qnxcsh4kvcBXlPn_Vi7i5LhLUp6w/s1600/pic12windscreen.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_eTUOlTWkD_YubXhKQS06TNtDYFiytGx79pvl0kPVTmLQBHGxeDw9brkkG_C_KiGKQgP7ayf6BPY_ZFlGfYjd7_NOzMDyr92lIAVCSKis7ayHj07qnxcsh4kvcBXlPn_Vi7i5LhLUp6w/s320/pic12windscreen.jpg" /></a>
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See you on the road one day.
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***
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<i>Credits</i>
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- photos courtesy <i>c emerson</i> (March 2013)
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- Death Valley Nat'l Park
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- Furnace Creek, California (91 degrees)
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- Wild Rose Canyon (60 degrees)
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- Telescope Peak (35 degrees)
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- Mt. Charleston, NV (through the windscreen)
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- A warm shower and soft bed (gorgeous)
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While you're at it, check out my latest post, <a href="http://www.ideasarephysical.net/2013/03/self-what-its-like-to-be-you.html?m=1"><i>"Self: What it is like to be you"</i></a> on <i>Ideas are Physical</i>.
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<br />c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-76470725865541482612013-03-07T18:31:00.001-08:002013-03-08T01:00:22.775-08:00Household Wealth Back ... For Whom?<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">USA Today says: "Surging stock prices and steady home-price increases have finally allowed Americans to regain the $16 trillion in wealth they lost to the Great Recession ... [<i>but</i>] ... The regained wealth - most of it from higher stock prices - has been flowing to richer Americans."<br />
<br />That sure sounds like some Americans are more American than other Americans.<br />
<br />Both CBS Nightly News and PBS News Hour, while reporting the recovery, failed to mention which group has directly benefited the most (at least so far). I couldn't find any online American news sources that seemed to cover this point. (They may be there but I didn't find any on my google search of "household wealth recovers").<br />
<br />I had to go to the <a href="http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10869962">New Zealand Herald</a> to get this detail:<blockquote><br />The rebound in wealth has benefited mostly wealthier Americans. The Dow Jones industrial average has just set a record high, and roughly 80 per cent of stocks are held by the richest 10 per cent of households.<br />
<br />And for the past five years, middle-class Americans have sold stocks and missed out on much of the rebound. In the October-December quarter, Americans dumped nearly $466 billion in stocks and bought $229 billion in bonds, the Fed's report showed.<br />
<br />For most middle-class Americans, home equity is their largest source of wealth. National home values remain about 30 per cent below their peak.</blockquote>
<br/>Any thoughts?<br/ ><br /> </span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-40406233731792350382013-03-03T04:38:00.003-08:002013-03-03T11:44:33.102-08:00Is Space = God?<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over on Robert Oerter's blog (remember my <i><a href="http://randomwalk12.blogspot.com/2012/10/ii-god-is-possible.html?m=1">God is Possible</i></a> series a few months back?), the professor has continued his posts about the possible scientific <i>Fine Tuning</i> of the universe. The idea is that certain physical parameters are both highly improbable and extremely critical for the emergence of life in this universe.<br />
<br />I have supplied various <a href="http://somewhatabnormal.blogspot.com/2013/02/collins-vs-stenger.html?m=1">comments</a> on that subject on the professor's blog, since it relates to the possibility of God's existence.<br />
<br />The following thought occurred to me: If space is something that can expand, then space is a "<i>thing</i>" with describable properties. If so, then this changes the question about Fine Tuning of parameters to a question about what space itself is. It also raises the interesting question of what space is "<i>in</i>"? In Aristotelian terms, this would put space back into the category of having (or being) substance, and as such, space itself could be the ground of all being. This we are accustomed to calling "God", to put this into a form that St. Thomas Aquinas might have used.
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A thought worth thinking about, I think, in commemoration of my grandmother, who was born this same day, in 1897, in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.<br />
<br />This is also a thought I will want to explore further on my new blog, <a href="http://www.ideasarephysical.net/?m=1">Ideas are Physical</a>, but feel free to comment on this here.
</span><br /><br /> <br />c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-14544201267859214392013-02-28T21:37:00.000-08:002013-02-28T21:42:22.648-08:00Sequestration<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Congress ... really? You can agree on giving <a href="http://randomwalk12.blogspot.com/2008/09/so-much-for-silence.html?m=0">AIG $85 billion</a> in an emergency situation, but you can't agree on how to cut $85 billion during a non-emergency situation?
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't get me wrong. I'm okay with cutting costs; even deep cuts, when necessary; but I would just prefer we did it the old fashioned way -- through smoke-filled, back-room politics.</span> Btw, did you think to cut your own pay before you headed home?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><br />
This from an <a href="http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/sequestration">Auburn.edu site</a> entitled, <i>A Glossary of Political Economy Terms</i>: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<dt style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sequestration</span></dt>
<dd style="margin-left: 0.5em; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />Originally a legal term referring generally to the act of valuable property being taken into custody by an agent of the court and locked away for safekeeping, usually to prevent the property from being disposed of or abused before a dispute over its ownership can be resolved. <br /><br />But the term has been adapted by Congress in more recent years to describe a new fiscal policy procedure originally provided for in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act of 1985 -- an effort to reform Congressional voting procedures so as to make the size of the Federal government's budget deficit a matter of conscious choice rather than simply the arithmetical outcome of a decentralized appropriations process in which no one ever looked at the cumulative results until it was too late to change them. <br /><br />If the dozen or so appropriation bills passed separately by Congress provide for total government spending in excess of the limits Congress earlier laid down for itself in the annual Budget Resolution, and if Congress cannot agree on ways to cut back the total (or does not pass a new, higher Budget Resolution), then an "automatic" form of spending cutback takes place. This automatic spending cut is what is called "sequestration."</span></dd><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><br /><br /><br />
</span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-63865281963717184862013-02-24T11:57:00.001-08:002013-02-24T11:57:08.179-08:00AA (that is, the Academy Awards) is a Great Program<br />
<br />Yes, AA is a great program. TODAY I am referring to one of our family favorites: the precious, the spectacular, the truly Hollywood-based <br /><br />
--- Academy Awards ! ---<br /><br />
Get out your ballots, call your family, and debate, debate, debate ... who will win, who should win, who acts the funniest, who is the strangest, who <i>looks</i> the best ... who <i>IS</i> the best.
<br /><br /><br /><br />c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-75839549746765763472012-12-28T02:01:00.002-08:002012-12-28T02:01:35.462-08:00Reserved.2Blog post coming - simple end of the year salutation - a difficult year with hope for 2013. Surprisingly, 20 and 13 are lucky numbers for me, although superstitions are only about one in three for me. Peace.c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-48964144643491727912012-11-27T19:27:00.002-08:002012-11-27T19:50:53.536-08:00[-reserved-]<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
[reserved]<br />
<br />
[xxxx]<br />
</span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-39878643042015635562012-11-24T20:35:00.001-08:002012-11-24T23:50:31.344-08:00No. 1 <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No. 1</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">6 stops inside the 2<br /><img src="webkit-fake-url://EC6B745B-9635-4EEC-9704-A689DCED323B/imagegif" />Notre Dame 22<br /> USC 13<br />
No. 1</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2dfIYsbxQ-VNGRRd4TnOOj-51-rTUOV7Kb6EJHLgsKT3oE9LgQgBdi2R_ub6LsKMPXYAfymWNM3QIt5pd2E5Ha92Iu_Gi8pVwKIFecEKXDWXVN9tBUedUzDr9esXKRRFceUGh6DC6R1JI/s1600/blogger-image-140914970.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2dfIYsbxQ-VNGRRd4TnOOj-51-rTUOV7Kb6EJHLgsKT3oE9LgQgBdi2R_ub6LsKMPXYAfymWNM3QIt5pd2E5Ha92Iu_Gi8pVwKIFecEKXDWXVN9tBUedUzDr9esXKRRFceUGh6DC6R1JI/s1600/blogger-image-140914970.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Howling for you</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Credits:</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i>
- University of Notre Dame<br />
- University is Southern California<br />
- photograph from</i> howlingforjustice.com</span></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br /> </span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-91351034665505418072012-11-21T14:55:00.001-08:002012-11-21T14:55:31.383-08:00Eastern Thoughts and Vegas Bull Riders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<br />
</span>
<b>It doesn't always make sense at first.</b><br />
<br /><br />***<br />
<br /><i>Credits:<br /><br />
- pictures courtesy</i> c emerson (Oct 2012)<br />
<i>- post dedicated to families and single social units everywhere<br />
- no turkeys were harmed in making this blogpost<br />
- happy t-day, or as a Brahmin friend of mine might say:</i><br />
टी खुश दिन<br />
</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-50730371778912630532012-11-17T21:52:00.001-08:002012-11-17T21:59:26.085-08:00When You're Hot, You're Hot<br />
Hmmm .... a Notre Dame grad<br />
just might be thinking<br />
about old Jerry Reed<br />
and what he'd been drinking<br />
<br />
When he and Homer Jones<br />
and Big John Talley<br />
had that crap game goin'<br />
back in the alley.<br />
<br />
He kept rollin' them sevens,<br />
and elevens<br />
and winnin' them pots.<br />
My luck, he said, is so good<br />
I can do no wrong ...<br />
He just kept on rollin'<br />
and controllin' <br />
all them bones.<br />
<br />
Hmmm .... he thought<br />
Alabama downed by A&M<br />
24 - 29<br />
KSU downed by Baylor<br />
24 - 52<br />
Oregon downed by Stanford<br />
14 - 17, in overtime no less<br />
<br />
So all their fans<br />
just threw up their hands<br />
and looked at that Notre Dame grad<br />
and said, "When you hot, you hot"<br />
<br />
And he looked back and said,<br />
"Yeah"<br />
<br />
***<br />
<i>Credit:<br />
<br />-When You're Hot, You're Hot, by Jerry Reed (1971)</i><br />
<br /><br />c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-16605770816263463572012-11-13T19:49:00.000-08:002012-11-13T22:18:14.687-08:00I Like My Sugar Sweet<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br />Posted by c emerson's Alter Ego:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><br />
<div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hear me now? I tell ya, a<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"> cat's meow will follow a cow's moo; you know I can recite them all; if ya just tell me where it hurts you, honey, I'll tell you who to call. </span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, I'm just like all the rest, I like my sugar sweet. But did you ever feel already buried deep, you know like six feet under the screams, where nobody ever hears a thing?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Come on, now, just let your colors burst, just make 'em go oh, oh, oh.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Well, Mr. Jinx and Miss Lucy, they jumped in the lake. I'm not that eager to make that same mistake. Everyone tells me people are crazy and times are strange. So I'll stay locked in tight, just out of range. I used to care a whole lot more, but things have changed.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">Yah, but my Mama told me when I was young, we were <i>all</i> born superstars. Yah, she told me that as she rolled my hair and put my lipstick on in the glass of her boudoir.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"> </span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">No no no - i</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">n the pitch dark I can't just go walkin' in your landscape. Broken branches trip me when you speak. No no don't reach out. Just 'cause <i>you</i> feel it doesn't mean it's there.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">No one cares, com'n, that boom boom boom, it's whipping my hair. To hell with the stares. The sweat is now dripping all over my face; and I'm the only one dancin' all over this place.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">I'm in pieces, baby fix me. Just shake me 'til you wake me from this bad dream. I'm like baby, baby, baby no.</span></span></span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Com'n, Baby, let me put the fever on you, get you boilin' past one hundred and two. Uh-uhh. Ooh. Fever! Fever in the morning, fever all through the night. Fever!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Okay, I got the fever. Yah, I got the fever off a man I knew. I feel it comin' on - comin' on - I know - I know - I know. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Swear, I just heard that song on the radio.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Okay, okay, so where is he, I mean Quinn the Eskimo? We all want to run to him.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">------ ------</span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>It's all in the music.</i></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">------ ------</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">***</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Credits:</i></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (you can search by song titles or artist names, including the number of views, at <a href="http://www.youtube.com">YouTube here</a>)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>- Mighty Quinn, Bob Dylan - 35,675 views</span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">- Firework, Katy Perry - 334,032,835 views (yes, 334 million+ views)</span></span></span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Things Have Changed, Bob Dylan - 3,612,733 views</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Born This Way, Lady Gaga - 101,727,384 views (yes, 101 million+ views)</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">- There There, Radiohead - 1,796,101 views (combined 3,890,000)</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Me Against the Music, Britney Spears - 1,550,980 views (combined 3,150,000)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Baby, Justin Bieber - 799,177,129 views (yes, approaching 800 million+ views)</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">- Fever, Beyonce Knowles - 3,557,321 views</span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">- Fever, Little Willie John - 244,890 views (combined 382,700) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">(lyrics by Eddie Cooley, Otis Blackwell)(1956)</span></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">- Fever, Peggy Lee - 7,620,411 views (combined 10,857,145)</span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">- (I Got) The Fever, Oasis - 49,725 views (combined 112,600)</span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">- Mighty Quinn, Bob Dylan - (yes, twice)</i></span></div>
<div>
<br /><i>- this article dedicated to r.g.e. (himself a mighty quinn) and to other young filmmakers, directors, producers, scriptwriters, lyricists, musicians, crews in Orange, California, and all creative talent everywhere<br /><br />- this article also dedicated to all those who support all those who are those with all that creative talent, and their crews</i><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
</span>
</span><br />
<div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"></span></div>
</div>
c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-4121946917043148722012-11-07T15:14:00.000-08:002012-11-07T15:16:51.652-08:00Congratulations and Respect<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I guess we <i>can</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> afford the</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">same </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">guy ... four more years.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> So what is next,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> some kind of a cliff ?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> ... or just more gridlock ...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Forward ?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-92153504248706721762012-11-03T22:26:00.000-07:002012-11-13T19:54:23.428-08:00Twisted Sister<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Posted by c emerson's Alter Ego:<br /><br />When I hear music, well it makes me wanna' dance. Cynthie get up and dance to the music. Bobbie all we need is a drummer, but I'll add a little guitar to make it easy to move your feet. And some bottom so the dancers just won't hide. Disco and all; feelin' the city, not just some flower on the wall. <br /><br />Then the beat picks up, and yeah I wanna' rock. No, no, no, no, NO. I wanna' rock. So Jack o' Hearts, what are you, anyway, some kind of man of the mountains, some <span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span>manipulator of crowds? Just a dream twister. But I see you got blood on your face. Waving your banner all over the place. But we will we will Rock you.</span><div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here's to state bar and the old soap bar, down in Deep Ellum, Dallas. Sorry the cowboy burned down. You can bet they'll fix it soon. And here's also to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island. So ... Perk, how 'bout saving the last dance for me?<span></span><span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Credits:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- When I Hear Music, Debbie Deb (1984)<br /> (you can search by song title at <a href="http://www.youtube.com">YouTube here</a>)<span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Dance to the Music, Sly & the Family Stone (1968)<br />- Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees (1977)<br />- Flowers on the Wall, The Statler Brothers (1965)<br />- I Wanna Rock, Twisted Sister (1984)<br />-Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, Bob Dylan (1974)<br />- Jokerman, Bob Dylan (1983)<br />- We Will Rock You, Brian May and Queen (1977)<br />- Save the Last Dance For Me, The Drifters (1960)<br />- Deep Ellum, Dallas (and some special memories)<br />- friends in Austin, Bastrop, Phoenix, Dallas and Elkhart who know how to hear the music<br />- Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, settings for "Saturday Night Fever" (1977); an area I toured by motorcar (1969) and hiked (1993)<br />- Big Tex (1952-2012; 2nd life 2013- ), Texas State Fair Grounds, Dallas (Navy 20 Rice 7, 1958) (Rice 28 Alabama 6, 1954)<br />- Deep Ellum, Dallas (yes that's right twice)<br /><br /></i><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-27611902493388635482012-10-31T19:30:00.000-07:002012-11-01T13:11:43.840-07:00III. Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' Man<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Intro-</i> This is Part III of the overall argument: God is Possible. I titled this part <i>A Preemptive Reply</i> originally because I wished to make ... a preemptive reply ... to an objection I am likely to receive to the argument in Part II. But, honestly, which of the two titles conveys more about string theory? One about Johnny Cash picking on a sideways-turned guitar (...wait for it...), or one using language found in a legal brief? zzzz<br /><br />Here are some of Johnny and June's words:<br /><br />Johnny: <i>Well, I'm gonna start out walkin' / just you wait and see</i><br />June: <i>Uh-uh guitar picker / you ain't leavin' without me</i><br />Johnny: <i>Oh, you big mouthed woman</i><br />June: <i>You long-legged guitar pickin' man</i><br />Both: <i>Well, we can work this out</i><br />Johnny: <i>Uh-huh, yes ma’am, I think we can</i><br /><br />You can find several live performances of the song on the web. Here's one posted by <a href="http://youtu.be/0_59br5LAU0">YouTube: PeterRabbit59</a>.<br /><br />But just so's I don't mislead you by my use of this analogy, no, I do <i>not</i> think of God as being a long-legged guitar pickin' man. String theory itself is what I think he is closer to being like, or yes, maybe the creator or sustainer of string theory.<br /><br />Okay, on to Part III.<br /><br />III. <i>Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' Man; Alternate Title - A Preemptive Reply</i><br /><br />To summarize, Professor Oerter analogized God to a Purple Elephant on Pluto, seeking material evidence for that. He bolstered his argument by analogizing to a complicated theory in particle physics called <i>string theory</i>. String theory postulates that the energy of the universe comes in teeny tiny little bits of vibrating activities (energy) which might occupy a variety of different dimensions and may combine in a variety of different ways.<br /><br />By combining in different ways, these teeny tiny "strings" produce or become the mysterious little particles of particle physics. And those become atoms, molecules, stardust, rocks and humans.<br /><br />We do <i>not</i> know that <i>string theory</i> works like that. We do <i>not</i> know if string theory works at all. Professor Oerter said that, and I agree with him, and feel comfortable relying on him for that. There is little if any <i>evidence</i> yet to support string theory. So we should not treat string theory as fact. Oerter argues, by analogy, God's existence should also not be treated as any kind of fact.<br /><br />Analogy is a logical tool. It is a type of inductive logic, rather than deductive logic.<br /><br />Inductive logic works like this: "Every willow tree I have ever seen has green leaves. I have been to a lot of places all over the planet and have seen a lot of willow trees. Therefore I conclude that <i>all</i> willow trees have green leaves."<br /><br />Clearly I do <i>not know</i> that all willow trees actually do have green leaves. Maybe there is one out there I missed, and it has red leaves. But based on the evidence I have seen, I <i>infer</i> that they all have green leaves. As we gather more and more information about trees in general and willow trees in particular, we humans can refine, modify or reject my conclusion that all willow trees have green leaves.<br /><br />See? Everybody is a logician. Logic, correctly understood, does seem to be possible. I recently wrote <a href="http://randomwalk12.blogspot.com/2012/10/is-logic-possible.html?m=0">some comments</a> about that, and back in 2008 I wrote a piece about <a href="http://randomwalk12.blogspot.com/2008/12/common-sense.html?m=0">sound judgment</a>.<br /><br />Moving on.<br /><br />Deductive logic works differently. It works like this:<br />"- All willow trees have green leaves.<br />- This tree is a willow tree.<br />- Therefore <i>this</i> tree must have green leaves."<br /><br />Of course you can look at this tree and <i>see</i> that, but humor me. Pretend you are looking at the trunk of the tree and can't see any of the leaves above you. Nonetheless, you deduce that the leaves are in fact green without looking.<br /><br />Although it is not really relevant here, but as an aside - please note: deductive logic <i>often</i> sounds more <i>conclusive</i>, more accurate somehow, than inductive logic ... because it is usually written in such strong positive terms. But, frankly, deductive logic is often just inductive logic <i>in disguise</i>, as in our example here. The "must have green leaves" clause rests on the primary premise's assertion that "All" willow trees have green leaves. So ... deductive logic can <i>sound</i> more accurate because that primary premise ("All x is y") is <i>stated as if it is true</i>. But as you can see, at least as to our willow tree example, we do not actually know if our primary premise is true or false. Remember, our primary premise was originally derived by <i>inductive</i> logic, which is inherently open to dispute.<br /><br />Now back to our chain of thought.<br /><br />Analogy works like this: "An acorn is to an oak tree, as a kitten is to a ... what? Answer: As a kitten is to a cat."<br /><br />In other words, there is something similar in the relationship between acorns, which grow into oak trees, and kittens, which grow into cats. We can all see that, <i>even though</i> the concept of growing was not openly referred to anywhere in the analogy.<br /><br />Okay, so as to Professor Oerter's use of string theory as an analogy, he is saying that, since it is reasonable to <i>not</i> count on string theory as fact in the absence of evidence, it is likewise reasonable to <i>not</i> count on the existence of God when the "existence of God" suffers from a similar absence of evidence. (My quotes).<br /><br />I agreed with the professor as to this specific use of his analogy as it applies to <i>statements of fact</i> about both God and string theory. I then tried to turn the use of the professor's analogy around.<br /><br />I tried to do so essentially by expressing this thought: (i) string theory provides a complicated explanation for the operation of the known universe; (ii) God is like string theory in that he, too, provides a complicated explanation for the operation of the known universe; (iii) string theory is possible; (iv) <i>therefore, by analogy</i>, since the theory of God 's existence is like the theory of vibrating strings of energy, God, too, is possible.<br /><br />I know <i>that</i> bit of logic is not as easy to follow as acorns, kitty cats, and growth of same. So take a moment, reread it, and tell me what my conclusion <i>depends</i> on? I'm just trying to be scrupulously and intellectually honest here.<br /><br />Yes ... the conclusion <i>depends</i> on whether "the theory of God 's existence is like the theory of vibrating strings of energy" in sufficiently relevant ways.<br /><br />I think it is.<br /><br />But analogy is a form of inductive logic, which, as said earlier, is inherently open to dispute. Perhaps the possible existence of God is nothing like the possible existence of vibrating strings of energy. After all, how do we settle on what types of existence are possible?<br /><br />I repeat, that I think the analogy is a good one. But further discussion about that needs to wait for another day. Or for the comments.<br /><br />It's Halloween, and children will soon be knocking on the door for candy.<br /><br />And I'm still tired from watching much of the conclusion last night, live, of the World Series of Poker 2012 at the Rio.<br /><br />------ ------<br />Ed. Note: Aristotle liked to use acorns and oak trees, as well as horses, and animals (including at least one tiger), in his writings. He is one of the first to work out analogical logic. For those interested, here is a link to an article in the online <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/">Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a> related to the subject.<br />------ ------<br /><br />[space reserved here for two pictures to be included in an update]<br /><br />------ ------<br />***<br /><i>Credits:<br />- Long-Legged Guitar Pickin' Man; Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Marshall Grant (author of this song) (1971), later with Carl Perkins (author of Blue Suede Shoes).<br />- wsop.com<br />- youtube.com<br />- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at <a href="http://plato.standard.edu">plato.stanford.edu</a><br /><br />Shout outs:<br />- to three Indiana lawyer friends of mine, who helped me in 2009, one of whom who put away his motorcycle before I could properly thank him; and to a fine former worker and friend of mine, who will soon be one of those Indiana lawyers; here's to clear logic and interesting questions of fact<br /><br />Deep Thoughts and Reflections:<br />- for all who have been harmed by Hurricane Sandy; death toll now 74 and damages now reaching ....<br /></i><br /><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-60856494613587016922012-10-30T12:04:00.000-07:002012-10-31T19:33:00.850-07:00II. God is Possible<br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Intro- <i>Good Morning, America, how are you? Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son. I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans. I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.</i><br /><br />Family heritage, a funny thing. Our fathers and mothers come from somewhere. As did their fathers and mothers before them. But who really knows much about their own <i>actual</i> heritage beyond that? Backwards in time, I should say, beyond the names and home locations of our own grandparents? Surprising how little we do know ... given the nature of how <i>values</i> get passed through.<br /><br />What's that thought got to do with the price of rice? Not all that much, but here's to the City of New Orleans, to a grand old house sitting between St. Charles Avenue and the levees, and, oh yes, to Willie Nelson, Arlo Guthrie, Steve Goodman (1971) and anyone else who ever went to, sang or rode on the City of New Orleans.<br /><br />Ok, on to Part II of the argument.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">II: <i>God is Possible</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I left this subject late last night, the picture of the <i>purple space elephant</i> was just exactly where I had left it, about a third of the way down in Part I's post. Then I woke early in the morn and it was gone. Still I have not found it so I haven't been able to put it back in its spot. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yes, I do have a back-up copy on my phone, but for the life of me I cannot figure what went wrong with the HTML code for the pic ID. Maybe it's meant to be. Maybe not.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Sans one purple pic</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now where are we? Professor Oerter uses <i>string theory (see footnote below)</i>* as a logical analogy to support his argument -- that is to say, we should <i>not</i> accept an argument for the existence of God without <i>evidence</i> to support that argument.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What the professor is saying (I think) is that he is not looking at this time for a rational argument that proposes to show God's existence. Nor is he looking for a testimonial or spiritual approach to "find" God. (My quotes around "find" not Oerter's). Instead, he is looking for an empirical approach, like the type used in developing scientific theories.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is why (I suspect) he wants to use string theory as an analogy as part of his argument. Scientists look at complex data, and undertake a large number of experiments, to find out how things work. They then craft a theory which might be used to explain all the results. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">String theory is one such theory. But no scientist is going to "accept" string theory "as a fact" unless the evidence from scientific experiments is adequately explained by that theory. (Oerter's words in quotes).</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, I agree with that completely. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">In that sense I do not believe that God is a proven fact. Nor do I believe, given what we empirically know in 2012, that God is going to become a proven fact in the near future (barring any miraculous events). </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But that is equally true for string theory. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yet, <i>that</i> does not stop scientists from investing a lot of intellectual capital into the <i>exploration</i> of string theory.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So ... Professor Oerter's analogy to string theory backfires, so to speak. After all, it is certainly "accepted" that string theory, while not proven, is <i>possible</i>. Professor Oerter's analogy to string theory <i>reminds us</i> that the theory for the existence of God, while <i>also</i> not proven, is <i>also</i> a reasoned case which provides an "explanation for the patterns of elementary particles, and so forth." (Oerter's quotes about string theory). Thus God's existence, like string theory, must be accepted as <i>possible</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thus, God is Possible.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next, Part III.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><b style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">* </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">It can be seen from the argument made that we don't need a detailed </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">understanding of string theory to follow the argument. In fact, all we need is an appreciation that physicists understand the theory and are sufficiently committed to it to <i>test</i> it out in the laboratory. </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For those interested, however, here is a link to a<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"> <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory">Wikipedia article</a>: "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><b style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">String theory</b> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">is an active research framework in particle physics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a contender for a <i>theory of everything</i> ... a self-contained mathematical model that describes all fundamental forces and forms of matter." (My italics). More sophisticated articles are also available on the 'net'.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">***</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Credits:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- the City of New Orleans, in song, verse, and physical reality.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- my parents and grandparents, some of whom lived in New Orleans and some of whom lived in Philadelphia<br />- anyone harmed by Hurricane Sandy</i> </span></span></div>
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c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-8880771202517068672012-10-28T21:33:00.000-07:002012-10-31T19:34:54.954-07:00I. Oerter's Purple Pachyderm
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><span><i>Intro-</i> This is a three part argument which I shall refer to, overall, as The God is Possible Argument.</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>The three parts are:</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>I: <i>Oerter's Purple Pachyderm</i></span><br /><span>II: <i>God is Possible</i></span><br /><span>III: <i>A Preemptive Reply</i></span><br /><span></span><br /><span>I grew up in a world that constantly debated science versus religion, or religion versus science. Fundamental issues, for sure, yet somehow it always struck me that it was the wrong debate ... or the right debate, just incorrectly structured.</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>But I love philosophy (the unexamined life and all that). And I love spooky science, Stephen Hawking, big bangs, string theories, dark energy and the like. I recently found Robert Oerter's blog which combines these topics. This put me in Hog heaven, as in Harley hog heaven.</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>So <i>Proud Mary's</i> wheel began to turn. Thank you, Robert Oerter, for pouring such good energy into your blog. And thank you, John Fogerty, for cleaning a lot of plates in Memphis, and then writing songs about it.</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>Ok, on to Part I of the argument.</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>I: <i>Oerter's Purple Pachyderm</i></span><br /><span></span><br /><span>To restate the argument's name accurately it is The Purple Pachyderm Argument by Robert Oerter. </span><br /><span></span><br /><span>Robert Oerter is a physics professor and the author of The Theory of Almost Everything (2006), an easy-to-read book which explains the Standard Model of quantum physics to ... well ... everyone.</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>Professor Oerter posted The Purple Pachyderm Argument on his blog, <i>Somewhat Abnormal</i>, on October 18, 2012, at this link:</span><span></span><br /><span><a href="http://somewhatabnormal.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-purple-pachyderm-argument.html?m=1"></span><br /><span>somewhatabnormal.blogspot.com/2012/10/</a></span></span></div>
</span><br /><span></span><br /><span>I encourage you to go there now to read Oerter's argument, which is an argument against theism. Also, I encourage you to read the comments there ... to follow the action so to speak. It is Oerter's first comment (the 4th comment down in his comment section) which got my big wheel turning. I will quote some of Oerter's material below, but read it all there first. </span><br /><span></span><br /><span>Here is a visual I found on <i>photobucket.com</i> to get your motor running.</span><br /><span></span><br /><span></span><br /><div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span></span><br /><span></span><i>Purple Space Elephant, by osbornebn</i><br /><span></span>[Ed. Note: I'll put the pic back when I find out where it went! Sorry, editor]<br /><br />Now from Oerter's blog, which sets out a fictitious dialogue between Pachydermist and Apachydermist, we read as follows:<br /><span></span><br />"Pachydermist: I believe there are purple space elephants living on the planet Pluto."<br /><span></span><br />"Apachydermist: Um, OK, what <i>evidence</i> do you have for that belief?"<br /><span></span><br />... and so they argue on ... (my italics)<br /><span></span><br />Apachydermist <i>insists</i> on material evidence before he is willing to accept the notion that purple elephants (God) exist. Every time Apachydermist presses a point about what it means to exist Pachydermist changes the description about what it means to be a purple space elephant, until Apachydermist finally leaves the scene "shaking his head sadly."<br /><span></span><br />In the comments which followed the argument, Ben Yachov (a defender of theism) takes Professor Oerter to task. He does this primarily on the grounds that Oerter has not addressed the problem from the correct standpoint of classic philosophical theism. Yachov says, "You[r] argument is meaningless to anybody who believes in the God of TLS, Aquinas, Scotus & or the Historic Judeo-Christian God."<br /><span></span><br />[TLS is short for The Last Superstitution (2008), a book by Edward Feser, which opposes modern atheism using classical arguments].<br /><span></span><br />Yachov provides various useful links, including one discussing Bertrand Russell's "celestial teapot" argument (see William Vallicella's link in the credits below). What I take Yachov's arguments to mean is that Oerter's thought experiment represents too shallow an understanding of the classical arguments for the existence of God.<br /><span></span><br />Yachov says: "Oh Prof Rob when are you going to pick fights with real Gods instead of wasting your time with bit players?"<br /><span></span><br />The Professor comes back with this very interesting remark (quoting Vallicella's blogpost):<br /><span></span><br />"Whether 'a reasoned case can be made for theism' is not the point of the analogy (Russell's or mine). The point is whether there is any EVIDENCE for theism... I can make out a reasoned case for string theory, as unifying the known forces, providing an explanation for the patterns of elementary particles, and so forth. But until I have some actual EVIDENCE for string theory, I'm not going to accept it as fact."<br /><span></span><br />I was troubled by this remark / argument for days. Restless even. Having been trained as a scientist ... accustomed to empirical research ... yet steeped in religion ... while conversant in logical arguments in philosophy and the law ... I had been fully prepared to view (and treat) the Purple Pachyderm Argument as heading to an inevitable draw.<br /><span></span><br />Yet Oerter's argument by analogy had arrested my thought. Not the general analogy he was making between purple elephants (or celestial teapots) and God. That analogy seemed straight forward enough. It was the Professor's other analogy, the one between string theory and proof of God's existence, that had me stumped.<br /><span></span><br />Then it occurred to me, perhaps the good professor has proven too much?<br /><span></span><br />What I mean is this: whatever help the string theory analogy brings or does not bring to Oerter's main argument -- that theists lack evidence to support the existence of God -- the use of string theory, as an analogy, supports a <i>different</i> argument, namely the argument that God is Possible.<br /><span></span><br />It is to that argument -- <i>God is Possible</i> -- to which I shall now turn, in Part II.<br /><span></span><br />***<br /><i>Credits:<br />- Somewhat Abnormal, blog by Robert Oerter, <a href="http://somewhatabnormal.blogspot.com/?m=1">somewhatabnormal.blogspot.com/</a><br />- Photo, Purple Space Elephant, by osbornebn, photobucket.com<br />- John Fogerty, johnfogerty.com<br />- Maverick Philosopher, blog by Bill Vallicella, <a href="http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher/2008/11/russells-teapot-does-it-hold-water.html"><br />maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher</a></i><br /><br /><span></span><br /><span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span></span></span></div>
c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-4934024236631364362012-10-27T18:46:00.002-07:002012-10-27T18:46:59.587-07:00So the Journey Goes<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A short late morning walk</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">turns into a lunchtime hike </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">which becomes an afternoon </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">excursion. With pics too.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Research and verify.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">See what's new, rest and refresh ... </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZF15Lixn59i5EU2radG2gXy67IJDAV6p34WWb0sQUXhq0GIG3OmYvM7Z8iiUStfbr_mO9T93hNbjJ44snYLcySv0MYMhKTWfELZHJV1z2CQvRs_hz3GlZoDRWf83GHPqlqPhr0ca0lkNr/s1600/blogger-image-1783976500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZF15Lixn59i5EU2radG2gXy67IJDAV6p34WWb0sQUXhq0GIG3OmYvM7Z8iiUStfbr_mO9T93hNbjJ44snYLcySv0MYMhKTWfELZHJV1z2CQvRs_hz3GlZoDRWf83GHPqlqPhr0ca0lkNr/s200/blogger-image-1783976500.jpg" width="150" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwIU5hR3b-4TDsLQzH4FOB63o8z9ncVxbEDMmG17qnmK1OnJBwLo1AvFlC4xNdCUSnH_1738j_etXrL1sDgnbkl7pzRzpHTbSlWQ_L825vRUs_1ZYWTUAp97TLx9UoWwR9pCKnzrwkcfSf/s1600/blogger-image--1198358722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwIU5hR3b-4TDsLQzH4FOB63o8z9ncVxbEDMmG17qnmK1OnJBwLo1AvFlC4xNdCUSnH_1738j_etXrL1sDgnbkl7pzRzpHTbSlWQ_L825vRUs_1ZYWTUAp97TLx9UoWwR9pCKnzrwkcfSf/s200/blogger-image--1198358722.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></div>
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and reprovision for a long night ahead.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By the way, the rodeo is in town.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">***</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Pictures courtesy </i>c emerson (October 27, 2012)</span><br />
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c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-56690138097329041882012-10-26T22:50:00.000-07:002012-10-26T22:50:41.462-07:00Is Logic Possible?
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />This is more a set of comments than a post. In a sense it is also a spoiler alert for a future post.<br /><br />The question is: Is logic possible?<br /><br />We know some things. Like 2 + 2 = 4. I don't mean just that one sum. I mean arithmetic itself. And also things like triangles, circles, lines, and colors, and the sizes of things. Like that.<br /><br />[Some people are not sure we know things like colors in the same way as numbers because we each see colors differently, so if you are thinking along those lines now, then substitute the <i>idea</i> of colors in place of any <i>specific</i> colors.]<br /><br />Okay. Now coming at the problem from another direction, there is an old boy scout song that goes something like this (I've used this before elsewhere):<br /><br /><i>Great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts,<br />Mutilated monkey meat,<br />Itty bitty birdy feet,<br />French-fried eyeballs floating in a pool of pus,<br />And me without a spoon.</i><br /><br />What do we make of that? Is it something we <i>know</i> something about, like arithmetic? I know it is a silly song, but no sillier than the story of Rat, Mole and Toad. I could just as well have used this from Dylan:<br /><br /><i>Grandpa died last week<br />And now he's buried in the rocks<br />But everybody talks about<br />How badly they were shocked<br />But me, I expected it to happen<br />I knew he'd lost control<br />When he built a fire on Main Street<br />And shot it full of holes<br />Oh, Mama, can this really be the end<br />To be stuck inside of Mobile<br />With the Memphis blues again<br /></i><br />Here's the point. I think of all songs and stories as conveyances, and as art. And therefore I come to think of life as a conveyance, and as art.<br /><br />Coming back to Logic, I found one definition that renders it to mean "a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration ..."<br /><br />Another renders it as "reason or sound judgment, as in utterances or actions."<br /><br />So, I wonder, is logic possible? And if so, does it take us anywhere?<br /><br />***<br /><i>Credits:<br />- Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary<br />- Dictionary.com<br />- Wikipedia<br />- boyscouttrail.com<br />- bobdylan.com</i><br /><br /></span></span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-76453289237757669242012-10-25T20:17:00.000-07:002012-10-26T16:32:06.926-07:00Wind in the Willows<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's a peculiar thing the way a mind works, be it a sane one or one infirm. A puzzle of enormous depth. But the day may come when the neuroscientists of this world say they have unraveled it all.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />I have an 8 cylinder mind, which is running on ten cylinders at the moment. As I lay resting last night, trying to bring sleep to weary portals, the 9th cylinder missed and then exploded, conjuring up poor Mister Toad of Toad Hall, deranged, delusional, eyes wide and bleary, deliriously obsessing over securing just one more <i>MOTORCAR.</i><br /><br />Where in the world I thought did that come from? (I've given up trying to be grammatical). Then I saw barely lit against the shadows of the night the name Wind in the Willows, with Rat, Mole, and the whole gang of weasels occupying Toad Hall. Who was it who had come to save the day for poor Mr. Toad? Who? Who? I simply could <i>not </i>fire the neurons for the missing hero. BLAST. Where were the neurons, the missing 10th cylinder, when I needed them, or it, the most!<br /><br />Wikipedia to the rescue. When flesh and blood fails, who you gonna call? Ghostbusters. And there it was, right there in the plot description, synopsis, summary, whatever: Badger to the rescue, secret tunnel and all.<br /><br />Finally I could sleep again, restfully, peacefully. And think about tomorrow's chores tomorrow. What was hiding there, I could only half sense, as I began drifting once again across the surface of the quiet peaceful river just out my back door, something, something about leaves to rake, under my oak and willow trees?<br /><br /> ***<br /> <i>- Dedicated to my family, while I lay here, not raking leaves, but drawing pictures in the sand</i><br /><i>- And to a friend living in Toad Hall South</i><br /><br /><i>Credit:<br /> - Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, 1908</i><br /> </span></span></div>
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</span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-27192522846819426212012-10-24T17:21:00.000-07:002012-10-24T20:48:09.042-07:00It's All In The Music<div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Philosophy, logic, particle physics, it is all so difficult, yes? Not really, because we do not need words </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>per se </i>(at least not complicated ones). What w</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">e seek, what we <i>need</i>, is not words, but communication.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thank goodness we can find <i>that</i> elsewhere, because <i>that</i> is not found just in words, it is found anywhere we are comfortable looking for <i>it</i>. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Put as simply as possible: It's all in the music.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Whether you hear <i>it</i> in Old MacDonald or Chopin, whether you are 4 or 64, you hear <i>it</i> in the music.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">***</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>- Dedicated to a friend</i></span><br />
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c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-23619266093980876192012-10-23T21:16:00.001-07:002012-10-23T21:16:12.676-07:00I Would Rather Be Riding My Harley<br />
I don't have an active internet connection for my computer. I don't remember much about using the word processing tools here at <i>Blogger</i>. There is only so much I can do with this iPhone, although it's obvious it's more than I originally thought. But it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe ... I think Bob Dylan said that.<br />
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I am back on for a reason. There is a line of argument about something I want to pursue, when I finish figuring out how to express it. I'm grateful to some people though, for causing me to wake up again, at least for awhile. There's my wife. And my mother. God bless 'em. Man, I sound like that character<i> Howard Wolowitz</i>, the aerospace engineer, on TV's the <i>Big Bang Theory.</i> Well, that's okay, I like the Big Bang Theory. There is also my father, my brother, my sister, my 4 daughters, my friends, D, W, B, my uncle, my aunts ... and a bunch of others. Cheez. What is this, a hoedown?<br />
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Still, I have something I feel I have to say - nay, want to say. Soon.<br />
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But, quite frankly, I would rather be riding my Harley.<br />
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<br />c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-81123048709962102852008-12-30T10:59:00.000-08:002008-12-30T16:05:04.360-08:00March of History<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> </em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> March of history,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> flow of time,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> imbued with meaning</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> oft sublime.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> Flow time will,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> as if down hill,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> to its own home,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> like a rolling stone.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> We push left,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> while we push right:</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> we're Prometheus-bound</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> against our might.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> Four steps forward,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> with three steps back,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> or is it three steps forward</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> and four steps back?</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> We work our art</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> so ever smart;</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> yet march our band</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> on a bed of sand.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> If Zeus won't check</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> or annul his hate,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> will Heracles come</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> to change our fate?</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> Can Pandora's hope</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> avert the brunt,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> or shall we avow,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> 'that pup won't hunt'?</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> No intent here</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> to denigrate</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> the role of hope</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> -'less it's too late.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> For time flows</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> whether or not hope grows,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> and history may march</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em> under no hero's arch.</em></span><br />
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c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5861807506634183007.post-10069338017520764392008-12-24T15:19:00.001-08:002008-12-24T16:55:18.159-08:00O Holy Night<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The reverberating voice of the baritone floats on the night like a ribbon of silk . . .</span><br />
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<blockquote><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Long lay the world in sin and error pining,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.</span></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And then the voice pierces the night ......</span><br />
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<blockquote><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fall on your knees, o, hear the angels' voices!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">O night divine, o night when Christ was born,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">O night divine, o night, o night divine.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Merry Christmas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Happy Holidays.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Everyone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">* * *</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Credits -</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <em>Music</em>, 'Cantique de Noël' composed by Adolphe Adam, 1847</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <em>Poem</em>, 'Minuit, chrétiens' by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <em>English Lyrics</em>, John Sullivan Dwight, 1855</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> source, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Holy_Night">Wikipedia</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span>c emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04148726859110510447noreply@blogger.com0